DAVAO CITY –Two suspected members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) were arrested while 14 of their comrades escaped when the police swooped down on a residence here on Friday.
Senior Supt. Alexander Tagum, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director, said he immediately ordered a combat operation after the Talomo police received information that unidentified armed men, who were believed to be members the NPA, were spotted at the Lucob residence in Purok 3, Barangay Langub.
The operation led to the arrest of Jimmy Duran Lucob, 26, single, construction worker, a resident of Purok 3, Barangay Langub, and Raquelyn Moda, 19, a native of Caburan, Davao Occidental.
Tagum ordered a pursuit operation against the remaining NPA members, who escaped after residents in the area informed police that they saw around 14 men carrying firearms scampering into the forested part of Matina Pangi.
DCPO spokesperson Ma. Theresita Gaspan said authorities recovered from the possession of Lucob a live fragmentation grenade and assorted subversive documents, while Moda yielded a homemade revolver and drawn maps of their supposed targets.
Gaspan said police also seized hammocks, assorted medicines, subversive documents, three single motorcycles, and other evidence.-PNA
